Dialysis
With kidney failure, when the kidneys can no longer remove waste and excess water and acid from the blood and maintain the body’s chemical balance, a person must undergo kidney dialysis. In this procedure, blood from an artery in the person’s arm or leg flows through a tube and into a machine called a dialysis unit that works as an artificial kidney. The blood is filtered and cleansed in the dialysis unit and returned through another tube inserted into a vein in the same arm or leg. Usually dialysis is performed at a dialysis center (although it can be done at home) three times per week. The person can sleep, read, write, talk, or watch television during the 3 to 4 hours of each treatment.
In another type of dialysis (called peritoneal dialysis), a cleansing fluid (called dialysate) is placed in the abdomen through a permanently implanted catheter (tube) to filter and cleanse the blood. To begin treatment, the person attaches a bag containing dialysate to the catheter and allows the fluid to drip into his or her abdominal cavity. The dialysate is left inside the abdomen for several hours while it pulls out waste, excess water, sodium, potassium, and other chemicals from the blood vessels that line the abdominal cavity. The fluid and waste are then drained from the abdomen through the catheter and back into the bag. The procedure is repeated four or five times per day. This method is called continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis and can be performed at home. Peritoneal dialysis also can be performed using a machine that fills and drains the abdominal cavity throughout the night while the person sleeps. This method is called continuous cycling peritoneal dialysis.
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